Car catches fire in Ambala, 4 dead

A Saharanpur (UP) resident, his wife, son and a friend met a tragic end as their WagonR LPG hatchback caught fire after a blast that was triggered by a collision with a tree near Simpla village, on the Mullana-Barara road, in the early hours of Thursday. Dev Sarup Mathur reports.

A Saharanpur (UP) resident, his wife, son and a friend met a tragic end as their WagonR LPG hatchback caught fire after a blast that was triggered by a collision with a tree near Simpla village, on the Mullana-Barara road, in the early hours of Thursday.

Gurudutt Singla, 24, was behind the wheel, while his father Vijay Singla, 57, mother Anita Singla, 52, and family friend Amit Pandit, 23, were with him, driving back to Saharanpur after attending a wedding at Pinjore, said Mullana police station house officer (SHO) Randhir Singh.

Locals residing nearby said it was around 2.30am when the car struck a roadside tree, after which there was a loud noise and the vehicle was in flames. By the time people reached the spot, three occupants had been charred to death while the driver succumbed after a brief struggle. A police patrol in the area reached the spot.

It appeared the driver had taken a wrong turn and reached Shahbad before turning back, and was headed towards the Ambala-Yamunanagar road when the mishap occurred. A visiting card of Yamunanagar advocate Narinder Pal was found in the car, and he told the cops that Vijay was working for him as a clerk.

After post-mortem examination at MM Medical College, Mullana, the bodies were handed over to the victim's relatives.